What Lies Ahead
by Alena S. Anigor
Summary: The moonlit deck, the ship's captain, his navigator and a brief conversation about the future. Slight [Luffy×Nami]. Reviews are welcome.


Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece; just my vivid imagination and some change in my wallet...

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**What lies ahead**

-by Alena S. Anigor

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She exhaled slowly, auburn orbs gazing pensively outside through the small, round window of her cabin. The moon was set high on the sky, in the right position to shed a light of its own at the navigator and a piece of paper in front of her. 

Lying on the wooden desk, pencils, pens and liners were scattered, its owner currently lost in thoughts, the map she had intended to make forgotten for a moment.

Nami blinked when the ship rocked slightly, the sound of waves crashing outside making her snap out of her stupor. She turned her head back, away from the serene night atmosphere and her eyes rested on the map again.

The lamp was still burning, the light inside the glass flickering soothingly, illuminating streaks, lines and curves on the smooth paper. She sighed and took a pencil in her hand, bending down a bit to add the final touch and seal the map with her signature. Satisfied with her handiwork, she lifted the map from the desk to examine it, eyes skimming critically over every line and curve on the paper. After a few moments she put it down and nodded, reaching for the thin twine lying on the desk. She rolled the map and secured it with it, tying the twine into a perfect knot.

Another sea crossed, another island visited, conquered and recorded neatly by her.

She leaned back, her back supported by the cold wood of the chair and sighed again. Her eyes were staring at the pile of rolled up maps and papers in the corner of her cabin. Some of them were stolen, of course, but most of them were made by her and she was proud of them.

Her lips curled into a small smile when she stood up and placed the just finished map next to the other one, stretching quietly in the middle of the cabin. A few bones in her back cracked and she grimaced slightly, reminding herself not to stay up so late, even when her ever industrious mind demanded from her to make a map and her fingers itched to draw numerous lines over the paper.

She yawned, not bothering to cover her mouth and headed outside, closing the doors behind her quietly. She didn't want to wake anyone up but she needed some fresh air after spending hours inside.

She let out a soft breath at the perfect night scenery, her eyes widening at the sight of the ocean, the ripples illuminated by the moon, shimmering and cascading over the huge, dark mass of water. She smiled; no matter how many times she had seen it before, the sight of a seemingly endless ocean always made her feel happy. It was simply a place she belonged to, something she was born to.

She took a few steps forward, reaching the wooden rail and leaned on it, letting the warm breeze play with her hair and caress her cheeks. It felt nice, refreshing and relieving to inhale the cool ocean air, the scent so familiar and welcoming. She closed her eyes, enjoying the moment.

Her thoughts wandered off slowly, away from the ocean and the ship, away from the cool breeze and her crew and towards the future. She sighed and opened her eyes, staring at the unruly surface again, her eyes slightly glazed over.

Her mind started asking questions she didn't know answers to.

_Where will I be in five, ten years? What will I be doing? Am I still going to be here, with Luffy, Zoro and others? Will I...still be alive?_

Her eyes darkened slightly at the last thought, as involuntarily, images of potential answers came to her, frightening her for a second. Images of bodies lying on the ground, limp and lifeless, images of blood flowing down their faces, their eyes blank and void of any emotions or thoughts. Images of two dark orbs and a pale, blue face with sharp fangs glistening when he smiled...

She inhaled sharply and she shook her head, determined not to think about that anymore. She was here now and she was safe. She was far away from Cocoyashi and the endless abyss she used to call her life. She managed a shaky smile, raising her hand to hug herself, fingers digging into the flesh, tainted with the dark ink on her upper arm. She would be fine; she would be alive and filthy rich and she would be the world's best navigator. She chuckled at that thought, remembering her dream to make the maps of the whole world, of each sea, ocean and land.

And as long as she had Luffy and her crew, she was going to succeed.

She started when she heard someone mumbling behind her and promptly spun around to see Luffy, walking towards her with a gloomy expression, holding a hand to his stomach. And speaking of the devil...

"Luffy," she said, quickly straightening up, relieved it was only him, "what are you doing here?" She asked and then frowned at his expression. "What's wrong with you?"

The dark-haired boy only grumbled something under his breath, his expression almost hurt when he approached her and leaned on the rail next to her. Nami watched him closely, trying to figure out what happened to him that made him so distressed.

"He said no and threw me out," He replied in a somewhat whiny voice and his lips pursed into a pout, making Nami blink at him in confusion.

"Eh?"

Luffy looked at her with his usual, almost blank stare and she raised an eyebrow. "Sanji," he ventured; the pout still on his face. Nami craned her neck a bit and rolled her eyes. As if that explained everything.

"What about Sanji?"

Luffy climbed up and sat on the wooden rail, letting his legs sway back and forth casually. He was silent, staring at the moonlit deck for a while, while Nami stared at him in anticipation. The cook didn't do anything too drastic, surely, but judging by the look on his face...

"I was hungry and wanted him to make me something but he just yelled at me for waking him up and threw me out." He finally explained, summing it all up into one sentence and looked at a gaping Nami as if that was the worst thing that could happen in anyone's life. Nami resisted the urge to push him off the railing, knowing very well that they would lose their captain and the crew just wasn't the same without Luffy.

She did clobber him on the head, though, his hat cushioning the blow a bit, but he still let out a yelp and covered his head with his hands, giving her a dirty look.

"What was that for?" He asked, looking at her with wide, teary eyes. Nami just huffed and crossed her arms.

"And I was actually worried..." She mumbled and looked at the ocean again, silence filling the deck.

Luffy was staring at her with a mixture of wonder and confusion but decided to stay quiet and looked past his shoulder at the ocean. But, Luffy being Luffy, couldn't take the silence for too long and hopped down on the deck and nudged her a bit with his shoulder, leaning on the rail in the same fashion.

"Whatcha thinking about?" He asked her good-naturedly, earning a sigh from the navigator in return.

Nami looked at him somewhat questioningly, pondering whether she could talk to him about what she had on her mind or not. After all, Luffy was never quite the man to hold interest for conversations about the future and other topics that had a deeper meaning to them. But, since he had already asked and there was no one else on the deck, she could as well try.

"Our future," she replied after a minute of silence and looked at him again to see his reaction. He blinked at the answer, dark eyes shimmering on the moonlight, as the wind played with his bangs softly. Nami didn't tear her gaze away from him nor did he turn his head away; they just kept staring at each other until Luffy broke the somewhat tense silence between them with a chuckle and looked ahead.

"Well, I already know how mine will look like!"

It was Nami's turn to blink at his reply, her hand flying to her head to tuck a stray lock of orange hair behind her ear. Her eyes widened at his simple answer, her curiosity triggered easily by that.

"Really?"

Luffy grinned at her and nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah! I mean...you should know the answer to that question by now, too!

Nami's lips parted slightly in wonder, her mind searching frantically for the so called answer, hundreds of scenarios and potential outcomes swirling inside. She completely forgot the most obvious one and was left to gape at her stupidity when he decided to enlighten her, again with the simplest of answers.

The grin remained on his face when he informed her of his future, so perfectly clear and possible in his mind, his smile and the glint in his eyes accompanied by the firmness in his voice, like nothing could alter his destiny.

"I'm going to become Pirate King, of course!"

The waves crashed against the ship, carried by the breeze and disappearing beneath as a foamy substance as Nami stared at him in wonder again. She couldn't believe she failed to acknowledge his dream, when it was obvious that that was the only thing he had on his mind. His ultimate goal, his ultimate achievement...

She lowered her head, observing their shadows stretched across the deck thoughtfully. "Hmm..."

Luffy looked at her quizzically, craning his neck to the side to try to see what was up with his navigator when her next question managed to catch him off guard, after all.

"And then what?"

"Huh?"

Nami raised her head and looked at him straight in the eye, watching his confused expression with some kind of amusement and satisfaction, for she finally managed to catch him unprepared. He usually always had answer to every question, no matter how absurd.

"And then what? What happens after you become Pirate King?"

She smirked inwardly when she noticed him staring dully at her. She could almost sense the wheels in his head turning, as much as she thought that was funny, for frankly, sometimes she thought he really had nothing underneath that hat. And yet, was proved wrong so many times. Now, she was eyeing him curiously, observing the mental battle on his face, eyes boring into hers, making her feel slightly uncomfortable. She felt like she should remove her gaze from him, but her eyes seemed glued to his, seemingly unaware of the awkward situation they were currently in to the stranger's eye.

Finally, after what seemed like a whole eternity to her, he grinned, making her blink and look at him apprehensively, wondering what she would hear next.

"Then I'll be able to eat meat every day!"

One of her hands gripped the railing to prevent her body from toppling over. She sighed petulantly and smacked her forehead.

"I should've known," she murmured and raised her hand to smack him, as well, but he caught it effortlessly in his and gave her an innocent smile.

"What are you mad for? You'll be...you'll be a pirate queen and get what ever you'll want, too!"

She let out a soft gasp, eyes widening slightly at the remark and her body went stiff, her wrist still trapped in his hand.

She was staring at him wordlessly; the words stuck in her throat, every chance of throwing a witty remark his way going to waste. She could feel her cheeks growing hot and her body trembling slightly, and when she recovered finally, she did the first thing that came to her mind.

"You dolt!" She snapped at him, and yanked her wrist out of his hand, making him blink at her in confusion.

"What?" He asked, not quite comprehending what made her so ticked off. He only said what he thought.

Nami turned away from him slightly, partially to hide a blush that was still tinting her cheeks and partially to take a deep breath and calm down.

"Nami?" She stiffened again when she felt him tap her shoulder clumsily, a concerned note creeping into his voice.

"I'm fine," She replied still somewhat snappishly but his expression remained a concerned one. She sighed inwardly, shaking her head mentally and cursing herself for allowing her body to react that way. Surely, he didn't mean that the way she thought he did. It was...merely a game of words she somehow misunderstood. Of course every king needed a queen and since they knew each other for so long, it was a normal thing for him to consider her his counterpart...right? Right. Who else did he have besides her? _Well_, she thought inwardly, remembering the other female member of the crew, _there is Robin, but...Robin? Nah..._

She smiled at him after he frowned at her blushing cheeks and swatted his hand away that reached for her forehead to check if she didn't, perhaps, have a fever.

"I'm fine, Luffy, really," she assured him and started walking back up the wooden stairs and towards the cabins, leaving him to stare after her with an unreadable expression on his face. "Go to sleep, it's late. Good night."

When she reached the doors and touched the handle, she halted, hearing his voice, sounding so strange in the middle of the night.

"I meant what I said, you know," he said and she turned around to look at him hesitantly, his face so oddly serious under the moonlight.

She could only nod at the statement and then left him to stand in the middle of the deck when she closed the doors behind her and let out a long breath, putting a shaky hand to her chest to try to calm her racing heart down. She shook her head determinedly, telling herself that he surely didn't mean to make it seem so...private and personal. No, that...that would be too awkward and weird. Besides, she never associated Luffy with terms such as romance or love.

She chuckled at the thought. Luffy, romantic? That would be the day...

She crawled into her bed slowly but not before turning the still burning light in the lamp off. She turned to the side and looked out the round window again and at the moon, sending silvery beams to play over her carpet.

_Go to sleep, Nami,_ She ordered to herself and willed her eyes to close.

But when she drifted off to sleep, she dreamed of her crew, drinking and laughing together under a moonlit sky. And involuntarily, she smiled in her sleep when she found herself right next to her captain, him smiling at her and her smiling up at him.

The Queen next to the King.

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**a/n:**

It was something I thought of after seeing one of the One Piece scans on the net where the whole crew is dressed in kimonos and they all look so regal.

Nami and Luffy are perhaps, a bit ooc, though...

Anyway, I hope you liked this.


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